The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Willa’. ‘Willa’ is a new cultivar of Japanese blue honeysuckle berry, also known as Japanese haskap, a plant grown for its fruit that is marketed as fresh and frozen fruit and processed food products.
The new Invention arose from an ongoing controlled breeding program in Corvallis, Oreg. with the planting of seeds collected in 2000 from several berry farms in Hokkaido, Japan. The objectives of the breeding program are to develop superior cultivars of this early ripening berry plant that could be grown in moderate to colder climates combined with an upright spreading plant habit and fruit that are large in size, attractive in appearance, firm texture, easy to pick, pleasant taste, and berries with a medium to strong attachment to the berry peduncle and a range of fruit maturity spreading throughout the harvest season with a high yield rate.
This new cultivar, ‘Willa’, arose from a controlled cross made in 2004 between unnamed and unpatented proprietary seedlings from the Inventor's breeding program; selection No. 19-27 as the female parent and selection No. 20-04 as the male parent. The Inventor selected ‘Willa’ in 2008 as a single unique plant from amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the Inventor by hardwood stem cuttings in 2008 in Corvallis, Oreg. Asexual propagation by hardwood and softwood cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.